No Victory
by Hatane
Summary: He had won, but it was no victory, yet.


'I've won

**A/N: DDD's back again, with another story. I know, I've been promising to write the Fanfiction under my Upcoming Stories, but it's not as easy as they always seem. Alright, so, here's on, it might not make sense to you, because I did something rather strange, may take some to understand it, but otherwise, enjoy.**

'I've won...'

'But yet...'

'It... It is not a victory.'

-

I watch my trusted partner Roserade finish the young Wartortle with her final Energy Ball. There, the Pokémon lay, fainted. Crosses in red flashed on the judges' panels. Time hadn't been close to finishing... And I won? Some strange miracle it was. There from my position, I glanced at her, watched her slowly make her way to her fallen friend, cradling him in her arms, as I made out the words from the shape of her lips. She apologised to the Wartortle, who gave a happy call to reassure her, disappearing into its Pokéball. Her fingers were tightly clasped around that one, as she carefully stowed it away onto her belt.

I looked down at Roserade, who smiled weakly at me, before collapsing due to exhaustion. In my arms lay the Bouquet Pokémon, who was smiling faintly, breathing slowly. That newly evolved Glaceon of hers sapped most of Roserade's energy, I was lucky, that the final score from my Flygon's Flamethrower knocked it out eventually, but he went down after Wartortle's Ice Beam. True, Roserade had grown so much since I first caught her as a Budew... Oh, but I didn't bother to continue thinking about the past. From the distance, she let her hair fall forward, covering her face. Her hands were pressed together in front, as she took a quick bow at me.

They handed me the shining trophy that was renowned as the Ribbon Cup. Its gold exterior glistened under the shining sunlight, it was glaring into my eyes, but it was still a beautiful prize. Other than the confetti, Roserade's Petal Dance had left pink petals scattered carelessly on the floor of the Stadium. I heard, this was where the Silver Conference was held anually in Johto. Well, it certainly was grand. I spied Soledad in the crowd, gently clapping her gloved and bare hand together, Harley was sulking to himself, and she, silently clapping, the ocassional tear falling, but I never noticed.

-

For once I had decided to be a little lax on my training, watching my Flygon down his fifteenth cup of punch down his throat. He let out a happy call, and I laughed, eyeing Masquerain, who was looking around frantically for someone, and my best guess would have to be that Beautifly. He chirped away, and Roserade smiled at Absol, who merely grunted and walked off for his own privacy. I found it strange that Harley wasn't harassing some girl or spiking someone else's drink – Instead he was being a complete gentleman, offering a glass of cocktail to every female he could. He even stuck out his pinky when holding the drink, and to Harley, that was saying something. I don't know which was creeping me out more – the surprisingly neat tuxedo, the classy accent he suddenly held in possession, or the certain smile that didn't look like a smirk to me. I shuddered, turning away. I leaned back in my chair, turning to face the large beach that looked at me invitingly. In the distance I saw a female with her long pale red hair. Her Lapras was singing melodiously in the waters, while Butterfree, Slowbro, and Pidgeot helping themselves to the food laid out on bowls. I could tell the Butterfree that was sauntering over towards them, belonged to me.

But yet… something felt amiss.

I beckoned to my Pokémon, as they obediently followed me. Roserade was seated on Absol, the rest flying either above or beside me. I smiled only slightly, carelessly tossing a paper cup into the dustbin, after finishing the last of the punch contained in the cylindrical container.

-

'Skitty, Blizzard!' the cry was heard from nowhere, when the pellets of snow rained towards my direction. By instinct, I had leapt to one side, apparently, grabbing Roserade as I performed such an action. Masquerain and Butterfree flew out of the way to evade the attack, Absol too, dodged by jumping, but Flygon had taken the full hit, the Blizzard hitting him square on the chest. My care for my Pokémon had made me run across the area, crouching down to the fallen comrade while I tended to his wounds. He returned my help with a cry of thanks, while I nodded. My head whipped towards the direction of the source of the voice. There I saw her, dressed in her orange sleeveless vest and black shorts. The green bandana of hers stood out from everyone else in their fancy outfits (especially Harley's). Sure, the new outfit was something I was yet to get used to too, I don't know, I think I preferred to see her in red. The small kitten that released the Ice-type attacked scurried over to her, purring and mewing to her as sweetly as possible. It disgusted me for some reason I didn't quite comprehend.

'Drew!' she shouted, her voice sounding somewhat apologetic, and I looked up at the brunette. She held the feline in her arms, gloved hands clutching the elbows tightly while the Skitty squirmed uncomfortably in the position. She loosened the hold of the Pokémon only just slightly, as she purred again. May looked down at the young Pokémon, before looking up at the male that had kept his eyes on her for a long time. She tilted her head slightly, and I turned back to glance at Flygon, who was shaking his head quickly to remove some water that were formed from the melting of the ice. He nodded to me, 'Skitty's Blizzard hurt Flygon. We were just being _harmless_ passers-by, you know?'

'Oh! I'm _so_ sorry Drew! Really, I have to work on Skitty's aim. I think her skill may have gotten worse from the time she spent at the Petalburg gym… But she was doing well during the Wallace cup, I don't see how she might have done that…' she said, starting to digress slightly, until I let out a cough to try and tell her. She turned scarlet, too embarrassed to continue. I bit my lip hesitantly. Whenever she digressed, I found it terribly difficult to keep the conversation going.

'…So… Aren't you preparing for the next Grand Festival?' she looked up only slightly from her feet, still shuffling them nervously. I looked up, flicking my hair for a natural look, and replied, 'I… I just decided to have a break for once, you know? I've been preparing for the next Grand Festival after the current one ends… I think it's time to break that ongoing trend…'

'Why, Drew? That's a terribly odd thing for _you_ to say! And _you're _the same green-haired coordinator that told me that continuous practice was the only way to get better! And _you're _the one all laid back now? Don't get too cocky with your win, Drew, I'm going to beat you in Sinnoh's Grand Festival.'

'Says the person who lost to a young amateur in Sinnoh, she lost three contests straight, I know, May, I know,' I threw back, smirking as she flushed. She snapped out of her daze, and quickly stuttered back, 'It was that bit of points Drew!'

'Mm hmm, well, I don't really care now, I've decided that I need a break,' I hummed, turning to leave, 'Oh, and control your Skitty's attacks better, it's probably why you lost. Your choice of typing wasn't very good either; you should work on that now, May. Even during the appeal round, I was amazed the judges thought highly of it, there was no shine to it; nothing about it caught my eye,' I said, waving a dismissive hand when she tried to talk back, 'Let's hope our paths meet again, May.'

But hey, she was correct. For the previous three festivals I'd walked out of the party, I never stayed for it. Now I see, I've been missing so much. I've missed out on all that cake and punch (though I've definitely seen the world when Harley's in a tuxedo. It scarred me for life, seriously) and other party stuff. Ah well, sugar wasn't my thing anyway.

But… training didn't sound bad.

'Flygon, Sandstorm! Absol, move in with Flash!' I shouted commands for the two Pokémon. With a quick flick on his tail, the large Dragon and Ground-type Pokémon whipped up a devastating spiraling Sandstorm. Discreetly, the Disaster Pokémon leapt into the vortex, and released a large amount of light, causing many nearby Pidgy and other flying-types to run off scatterbrained. Roserade and Masquerain had just performed a Silver Wind and Petal Dance combination, and Butterfree decided to spice things up with a mini-light show with its signature Psychic. I looked at them, somewhat pleased, flicking the occasional bang away from my face, and returned every single one of them.

I stifled a yawn. I was tired, but all that sugar and caffeine in the drinks made me feel awake, and all that contradicting was just making me nauseous. The room I had booked in the Pokémon Center came in most certainly handy, and I just collapsed on the bed from exhaustion, not even bothering to change into something fresher, as I felt my eyelids closing, too heavy to be opened until the late morning.

-

Shit.

'Leave it to the tired and great Drew to completely forget his interview…' I muttered, slipping on the purple jacket while I tugged at my black sleeves, slipping on the shoes haphazardly as I locked the door. Flygon flew out from the doors of the Pokémon Center, and I was on him, taking off to Goldenrod, the radio station that was famous in the city.

Taking a quick glance into the mirror, I tried to somewhat gel my hair, which obviously, failed. Groaning, I matted it down as much and neatly as possible, before entering the meeting room. The reporter was already seated at the end of the table, while I took a quick seat beside her. I quickly came up with some excuse, 'Screw traffic, I would have been here earlier. Never take a cab from the Indigo Plateau, seriously. Traffic's terrible around that area. I wonder why I didn't take out Flygon and just swoop over here, but that would take much time too… so either way… yeah…'

The reporter managed a laugh, tucking his dark green hair behind her ear, and smoothening out her white skirt, before checking with her cameraman. He gave her a nod to signal he was ready, as she begun, 'It's me, Tanya, and now, I have the Top Coordinator of this year's Grand Festival, Drew Andrews! He's taken the title of Top Coordinator in the Johto region's Pokémon Super Contests, after defeating May Maple of Petalburg City in a most fierce match between both coordinators. Andr-'

'Drew, not Andrews,' I pointed out, looking rather annoyed that she had called me by my last name. It sounded terribly officious, and I was more of the laid back, playboy Drew that everyone had come to know, but perhaps not love.

'Sorry about that…' she trailed off, quickly picking back up from where she left off, 'Alright, so Drew has overcome all odds to finally win this prestigious title. Drew, what would you account your victory to?'

'Now, that's a dead giveaway. Definitely my Pokémon, especially my very first Pokémon, Roserade. She's been with me through thick and thin, it's great to have someone like her around. Through all this while, I've perfected her moves, appeals, coordination with the other Pokémon in my team,' I answered coolly, biting my lip to think, until I continued, 'Uh, I guess my parents, they've supported me all the way. They approved of a coordinator career, well; maybe my father violently objected at first, hey, screw him for being elite in battle. I have my own decisions, this was one of them. At least he approved after a while, but, whatever.'

'Alright, that sounds like a good answer. Now, what is the first thing that comes to your mind when I say the words "Pokémon Super Contests"?'

'May.'

'Huh? I didn't quite catch that, could you repeat that again, Drew?'

'Huh? Uh, uh, I really meant to say Roserade. She's been there for me, all this while, doing contests, winning them alongside with me…'

'Wow, sounds like there's a deep bond between you and that Roserade. Would you like to share about your relationship with that Bouquet Pokémon?'

'I'd… rather not, please and thank you.'

'Oh… Now that's a sad thing, we could have gotten something really interesting,' she mumbled, motioning to Dave the cameraman to put it on pause, while she continued, 'after this, we'll probably take down some other questions, for the magazine report, oh, and some pictures. You're going to be on the cover page of Coordinator Monthly.' Tanya let out a smile, before rummaging in her bag for the tape recorder and miniature microphone that came with it. Even after that, she had to find the microphone cap, which, I guessed, would be taking quite a lot of time.

I watched, a little stupefied, as she took out varying items, from lipstick to lip gloss to eyeliner pencils and tissue paper, and there were small mirrors and phone charms, a couple of handheld tools like a MP3 player, walkman, a couple of CDs, and even a USB cable for her handphone, one of the latest models from the famous LaRousse phone manufacturing company. There was even more, when she took out a few pads of paper, an extra pair of AA batteries, a small purse that was exploding, slightly, and a small phone charm which was in the form of a small Pichu.

'So that's where that little bugger went!' she exclaimed, fiddling with her phone to put it on.

I coughed, trying to get back to the business currently at hand, 'Might I suggest you tend to that at a later time, perhaps when we're done with this…?' I flicked my hair carelessly, leaning back into the seat again, my right leg crossed over the left. She looked at me, embarrassed, 'Oh, I apologize, Drew. Sorry… I tend to digress and everything, I hope it doesn't bother you too badly because it's a tendency of mine… Oh I'm doing it all over again…' she muttered sheepishly, sweeping everything back into the bag, other than the tape recorder and related equipment.

'Alright, Dave, get us back on the screen,' Tanya told the cameraman, and he began to film again. She leaned in slightly, and asked, 'Alright Drew, what do you've think you've won through this Grand Festival?'

That was the question that completely froze me. I thought, I thought, long and hard, and hung my head, 'I've not won anything…'

'He has- Wait, what? Dr-Drew, are you alright there?' Tanya approached me, leaning in to look at me, and I tried to force a smile, 'I haven't won anything from this… I haven't won anything from this.' She looked too anxious as to why I was constantly denying myself, 'But, you've won this, you've won this Grand Festival… Drew…'

'I have not conquered it, not yet, not yet…'

'Not yet…'

'I've won...'

'But yet...'

'It... It is not a victory.'

-

**A/N: Yeah, bit of a cliffhanger there, it's up to you to hallucinate what happens after this. It's an oneshot, so don't go adding this to a Story Alert, it will never be updated again, unless I decide to rewrite it. I **_**might**_ **do a sequel, depends on my muse. But, hit the review button, I'll love you for that.**


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